1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to printing devices and, more specifically, to printing devices that can receive music files, generate and deliver a variety of music-related paper and electronic outputs.
2. Background of the Invention
Advances in audio technology have created new opportunities for musicians, composers, and music lovers to play, create, and appreciate music. At the forefront of these advances has been the advent of MPEG audio layer 3 (“MP3”) and related standards for compressing digital audio files. The ability to reduce music files to a fraction of their original size has enabled the sharing of literally millions of music and other audio files through peer-to-peer networks. While MP3 and other digital audio formats are well-suited for providing studio quality recordings, there is still a strong demand for other types of musical files—for instance musical scores and Musical Instruments Digital Interface (MIDI) files.
Scores and MIDI files are particularly useful for composing or writing music. Oftentimes, composers will score a musical work or idea soon after its creation, and then refine the score as the music develops. MIDI files, because of their small size and ease of manipulation, are likewise well-suited to composing, editing, and arranging music. MIDI files are also better adapted than MP3s for applications constrained by memory limitations. Cellphones, PDAs, and other handheld devices often use MIDI tones as signal tones, as do website interfaces and games, in place of bulkier digital audio files. In addition, both musical scores and MIDI files often store musical information embedded in finished recordings such as the tempo, phrasing, measures, or stanzas of a piece, or when a note is played, how loudly, and for how long. This information can be useful in marking and indexing finished recordings.
Presently, the conversion of audio and music files between different paper, digital and analog formats often requires several steps and devices. To convert an analog recording into a digital file such as an MP3, and then output versions of the MP3 as a musical score and a MIDI file that can be played as a cellphone ringtone requires coordination between different systems and outputs.
Thus, there is a need for a unified system that can translate audio files into different types of paper and electronic file formats and output the results.